If We Can't Save the World
by Afalstein
Summary: In the wake of the battle with Thanos, the Avengers attempt to regroup. But how do you recover from the apocalypse? What else is there, when you've lost the war?
1. Reunion

It was utterly quiet in the spaceship. Dead quiet. Crushingly quiet. The kind of quiet that presses down over everything and smothers even the thought of discussion. You could not cut the silence with a knife, or even chip it with a jackhammer. You could only accept it.

Nebula had yet to speak a single word to the strange human who sat hunched over the piloting console. She'd followed him to the ship, he'd given her a single glance, then clearly dismissed her from his mind. She vaguely wondered how he'd figured out the piloting console so fast, but the question of where he was flying them to barely even crossed her mind. She didn't care. Her sister was dead, her Marauders dead, the only people in the world who might not actively want to kill her had dissolved to ash in front of her eyes. One destination was as good as another.

So the two sped toward Earth, eyes gazing fixedly out the window at the stars speeding past.

* * *

"Three hours?" Natasha grimaced.

"I'm surprised they gave us that much time to clear out, honestly." Banner shrugged.

"Try to understand." Shiuri said, trying to muster up a smile. Brother had always smiled while doing this sort of thing. "Wakanda hasn't been open for over a thousand years. We finally unlock our borders, let in a handful of fugitives from the outside world, and suddenly, half our people die."

"If… if it helps." Banner gave a little smile. "Probably doesn't, but… hey… they would have died whether you'd opened your borders or not."

"I understand that." Shiuri said. "But the council does not."

Natasha nodded. "We'd probably be locked up somewhere answering questions in a lot more unpleasant fashion if we'd been in America. Or Russia."

Was that what governments did? Shiuri wondered. Should she be doing that now, as Queen? Ordering her troops to capture the Avengers? Maybe the council would like that. The heroes left in this room were not so very powerful.

But no. Her men would be no match for Captain America or the others, even with the Black Panther fighting alongside them. She was barely queen in name, and had none of her brother's abilities. And besides, she had no stomach to fight these heroes.

"The main thing right now is to get in the air, find some place to regroup." Rhodes said. "But I can't get ahold of Fury, and I don't think Ross is taking my calls anymore."

"Maybe he disappeared." Nat suggested. No one asked which man she meant.

"Cap, any suggestions?" Rhodes looked over.

The First Avenger was standing at the window, staring outside at the field below. The once-green pasture was scored with black scorch marks from the battle; cleanup crews were dragging away corpses of alien and Wakandan alike. Half-a-dozen of the "Warwheel" tanks were being taken apart, the chewed-up dirt of the ground behind them ravaged.

High above the field, there was a small figure, just floating in thin air. At this distance, one could just make out the red cape flapping around him, and see the occasional crackle from the hammer in his arms.

Cap said nothing.

"We… we have a few safehouses left." Nat said, turning back. "We can…" She seemed at a loss for words for a moment. "…go there. For now."

"Good enough." Rhodes said. He looked to Shiuri. "Your highness, I'm sorry our involvement has caused such trouble for you with the council. Is there anything we can…?"

Shiuri shrugged. "Ah, the council is always complaining." She caught Okobe's lifted eyebrow and hastened to make that sound more official. "…but we respect the way of our ancestors here. I am not the first woman to take up the mantle of the Black Panther." Just the first in three hundred years. "Honestly there may not even be a ritu…"

Okobe sent her a quick glare and Shiuri snapped her mouth shut. The outsiders did not need to know of Wakanda's ways, anymore than they needed to know about Killmonger's coup and how that might… revise age-old traditions. "I can take care of myself." She finished, with another quick smile.

Rhodes and Nat looked at her, and she wondered what they saw. A scared sixteen-year-old who'd spent more time in the labs than on the practice ring? A girl more familiar with sonic blasters than with hand-to-hand combat? There might not be a ritual, but any coronation would demand at least the form of a challenge. And if one of the other tribes put forward a champion… Already she was wondering if she just abdicate and let the throne pass to Okobe or someone. Maybe the Chupa tribe. There was a… startling thought.

Whatever Nat's thoughts, she kept them to herself. Her nod was almost bored. "Then what about the… guest?"

"He needs to stay here." Shiuri shook her head. "I'm sorry, but to move him now would lose any chance of recovery. I will keep him safe, you have my word." If only because he was the closest link to figuring what exactly had happened to her brother.

One of the beads on her bracelet flashed, and a hologram sprang to life. She glanced at it, and her heart dropped into her feet. "A vessel has just dropped from space into Wakanda airspace." She said.

Everyone looked up. They were all thinking the same thing. This was how it had started before.

"Why would they come back?" Banner stepped to the window. "That makes no sense."

"Round two, maybe?" Rhodes stepped alongside him, his eyes searching the sky. "Hell, I wouldn't question it."

The talking raccoon, though, was looking at a bracelet of his own. "What the shit?" he squinted at the screen. "What's that idiot doing here?"

Nat blinked at the red-blue ship settling on the verge of the tree-line. "That… doesn't look like the other ships."

"It's not." Rocket said. "That's mine."

* * *

They were at the tree-line in moments. Okobe had already drawn up the forces they had, this time backed up with ten fliers and a full crew of war-rhinos. Shiuri didn't exactly know why she'd come along, but she grabbed a pair of sonic blasters and, feeling a little silly, draped the spare Black Panther necklace they'd recovered from Killmonger around her neck.

At the treeline, as before, there were two figures standing. But unlike last time, they were simply standing there, with no visible weapons on them. And, Shiuri realized with a thrill, she recognized one of them.

"Captain." Tony Stark nodded. "Who's dead?"

* * *

"This is Nebula, by the way." Stark said, as the ship flew up and away from Wakanda. He gestured at the blue woman. "Cyborg alien lady. Major kill crush on big Purple."

"I know who she is." Rocket said, turning around in the captain's chair. "Where's Quill? Where's Drax?"

"Dead." Nebula said. "And Mantis."

Rocket seemed to deflate. "Shit," he said, passing a paw over his face. "All of them? Gamora?"

Nebula bit her lip and looked away. Rocket's shoulders drooped even further.

"Everyone keeps mentioning this Gamora." Stark said. "Gotta say, I'm a little pissed at her for dying."

Nebula moved with terrifying speed. Before anyone could even react, she'd pinned Stark up against the bulkhead, her metallic fingers digging into her throat. "Do not blame my sister for Quill's idiocy." She hissed. "Nor your friend's."

"Friend?" Nat questioned, her stun-sticks out and on Nebula's throat.

"She's talking about Doc." Stark grunted, apparently unfazed . "Doc Strange. Banner tell you about him? Anyway, not important. He's dead too. Saved my life by sacrificing himself, like an idiot."

"He sacrificed half the universe." Nebula said, slowly lowering Stark to the floor. "An idiot is the least he is."

"Strange is dead?" Banner said.

"Steven Strange?" Thor turned. "I met him. A good man. I am sorry to hear he is dead."

"Yeah, well. A lot of people are." Stark let out a breath. "Who'd we lose here?"

"That we know of?" Rhodey shrugged. "There was a pretty big dust up. Sam, Wanda, Vision, T'Challa…"

"Who?"

"King of Wakanda. He was helping us fight."

Tony snapped his fingers. "Right. Thundercat-man, guy who was all about avenging his father. He was helping you guys?"

"Bucky." Cap said, softly. "We lost Bucky."

"Oh really?" Stark looked at the soldier. "Excuse me if I don't shed many tears over that fact."

"Tony…" Nat said.

"No, seriously." Tony said. "Was he hiding out in Wakanda this whole time? He was, wasn't he." He walked a couple steps in Steve's direction. "Wakanda, the country we were specifically trying to accommodate, the country you were specifically trying to keep from getting ahold of him? And they just reversed themselves to work with you and shelter the hypnotized Cold War assassin."

"Tony, seriously." Rhodes said. "Not a good time. It's been a bad day."

"Oh has it?" Tony rounded on his friend. "What a surprise. You know, until you said that, I thought half the universe dying in an instant was actually a pretty normal day. Am I being insensitive again? Let me apologize." He turned directly toward Cap. "Steve, I'm so sorry your murderous hitman war buddy is dead. Meanwhile, me, I had to hold a sixteen-year-old in my arms while he begged and pleaded for me to save him, but really, I'm sorry to hear that the only person who you think worth even mentioning from the battle is the amnesiac psychopath."

"Don't you talk about the battle." Cap said, looking up with a murderous glare. "You weren't even there. What happen, did you get one of your bright ideas again? Decide you'd do better on your own than working with a team?"

Stark let out a little laugh. "Look at Mr. Team Player here. Always about what the group wants to do together. Is that how you guys wound up in Wakanda? Or did you decide what the group 'wanted' to do, Captain?"

"You should have been here." Cap stood up. "We're Avengers. We fight together."

"We fail together." Tony said. "That's all we ever do, that's all you ever care about. Doesn't matter if the world gets destroyed when we lose, just if we lose as a team. Unless, of course, the team decides on something you don't like, in which case, feel free to split off and take half the team with you."

"You know, I figured you were dead." Cap said, stepping up to Tony. "I figured you had to be. Because, I told myself, if Tony was alive, he'd be busting ass back to Earth. For all Tony's faults, I told myself, he wants to protect people, so there's no way in hell he'd be off…" Cap gestured angrily "…doing his own thing in space and not getting back to earth as soon as he could."

"Vision wanted to destroy the Mind Gem, didn't he?" Tony said. "I'll bet he did. That's exactly the sort of dispassioned, selfless sort of idea he'd come up with. But you couldn't have that. No, you had to go with your own, much better idea, because heaven forbid you listen to someone else for once in your damn life!"

Captain America punched Tony.

It was a quick, savage blow, almost a literal lashing out. There was no restraint or compassion behind that punch, just powerful rage and grief, and it sent Tony flying back into the ship's bulkhead, smashing up against it with a chillingly solid thud.

Thor was immediately in front of Cap. "Calm down, son of Roger." He said. "I have often wanted to kill Tony before, but it doesn't stop him talking."

Banner let out a breath. "I… really missed a lot, didn't I?"

"Tony, what the hell." Rhodes turned. "That was a new level of asshole, even for you."

Nat was bending over Tony. "I'm more interested in how you're even still alive right now, Tony. You've got injuries even I don't know how to give. And what was that about a sixteen year old?" She gripped him by the shoulders and tried to look him in the eyes. "What happened?"

"Doesn't matter." Tony gave a wet-sounding cough. "Not anymore."

"You know, this is a bit odd, me breaking you two up like this." Thor said, looking from Cap to Tony. "Usually Rogers the one who needs to stop me. You remember when we first met? Some sort of forest? I'm pretty sure I was trying to kill Tony before you butted in."

"You're handling this well." Cap said, with just touch of bitterness.

"Cause he's been through it already." Rocket said, finally looking up. "He had nothing to lose when this whole thing started. Pirate-Angel's already lost his entire people, this is just so much icing on the cake for him."

Thor looked at him. "Why would cakes have icing?"

"Lose?" Banner's eyes flickered over to Thor. "Then… Loki… the Asgardians…?"

"Heimdall died to send you to earth." Thor said. "Loki choked out his life in Thanos' grip. I do not know about the others. At least half of them are dead and gone. It took me but a few days as king to lead my people to destruction, it seems."

"Don't beat yourself up about it." Banner said. "If Hulk couldn't stop Thanos, I don't know how you were supposed to."

Thor shook his head. "I should have aimed for the head." He said.

"Stop it with that." Banner turned to the rest. "Actually, all of you, stop it with the 'should have' game. You want 'should have?' Those Black Legion assholes 'should have' found something better to do with their lives. They didn't. Thanos 'should have' not been flipping insane. He was. Hulk should have been in the fight. He wasn't." Banner took a breath. "Maybe Tony 'should have' been in Wakanda. Maybe Cap 'should have' stayed with the Sokovia Accords. Maybe this… Gamora person 'should have' stayed alive, though I doubt she had much say in the matter. That's not the point anymore. Take it from the expert in self-hating, this isn't going to get us anywhere."

There was a short silence.

"Not to be competitive, but I think my self-hatred issues out-trump yours." Tony said.

"Tony, this isn't a contest about who's the worst monster." Nat frowned at him.

"Thor hates himself for failing his people, Banner hates himself for being a full raging monster—or not being one, in this case—I hate myself because of unresolved issues with my parents, you hate yourself for reasons I'm still not clear on…" Tony blew a breath out. "Earth's Mightiest Heroes. We should start a therapy group."

"I feel pretty good about myself, actually." Rhodes said. "And Banner's right. You guys have gotta stop blaming yourselves. It's not getting us anywhere."

"So? Are we even going anywhere, at this point?" Tony threw up his hands. "What's the plan, exactly? Go back to Stark Tower? Find some Cold-War era bunker in Germany? Why?" He shrugged off Nat's grip. "Do we have some sort of magical plan to make all those people not-dead?"

There was total silence. Nat looked to Cap. Rhodes looked to Stark. Banner looked to Thor.

No one said a word.

Tony let his hand fall. "Of course not. This isn't regrouping. This isn't some sort of second wind where we rediscover our purpose. The day's over. We lost. There's no saving this day." He let loose a snort. "So what are we even doing here?"

Silence reigned throughout the ship.

"You call yourselves the Avengers." Nebula said, suddenly. "Half your planet lies dead, and you wonder what you should do?" She snorted. "It's simple. You do some Avenging."


	2. Regroup

It just figured, Stark reflected, that Secretary Ross would be one of the people to survive the apocalypse.

"Stark, you're pushing your luck here." The glowing hologram of former general said. "You think we haven't noticed the building full of international criminals you've got in that tower of yours?"

"You think I haven't noticed you haven't actually done anything about it?" Stark said. He was just barely paying attention to the man, his fingers were flying over the screen in front of him. "Surprised you can spare the time to threaten me, with all the mass panic and hysteria going on out there. UN's barely keeping it together, from what I can see."

Ross growled. "We're not always going to be busy, Stark. You might want to think about how many crimes you're racking up, harboring fugitives and…"

"Fun fact: they're not fugitives anymore. They're foreign nationals. Interplanetary Nationals. Hey, you know Thor, right?" Stark gestured to the demigod, who looked startled until he saw the hologram.

"Oh! Yes, allow me to introduce myself." Thor smiled and stepped forward. "Thor Odinson, god of Thunder, King of Asgard. You may kneel, though it's not strictly required-I'm trying to establish a more laid-back monarchy than my father's."

Ross just stared at him.

"Anyway." Thor clapped his hands. "The one you call Bruce Banner is my brother in arms and is a citizen of Asgard. In recompense for services done to the Asgardian people, I have granted his boon to take Stephen son of Rogers and Natalia the Roman under my guardianship as fellow citizens." Thor smiled. "We're very big on immigration right now, trying to repopulate our people, there was a genocide, lots of details, not important right now though I-would-love-to talk over the whole story with you at some point." He coughed. "The important thing is, they are members of my royal bodyguard and as such are entitled to diplomatic immunity."

Ross stared at the Asgardian. "The hell?"

"Sidebar: Scarlet Witch and Falcon are dead, so you can take them off the list too." Stark said, fingers still working on the screen. "Rhodes also says he's fine with the court-martial, going to plead no-contender or something."

 _"Non-contendre."_

"Sure, that sounds right." Stark nodded.

Ross was regaining his composure. "Cute, but you realize you can't just have someone declare themselves king to give themselves diplomatic immunity. You need to be formally recognized by the UN…"

"Gee, that sounds fascinating, but look, Ross." Stark turned from his screen. "The UN clearly has better things to do than to go through the whole bureaucratic process of recognizing the sovereignty of the god of thunder. I know I do. While I'm sure Point Break here would be amply able to satisfy all your paperwork..."

"What? I don't understand." Thor glanced from one to the other. "Paper doesn't work. It just sits there. Like stupid paper. Doesn't even have moving pictures."

"…it'd probably take a while." Stark looked at the Asgardian. "So." He looked back at Ross. "Here's the deal I worked out with Rogers, which you're going to accept because you're too busy to contest every single point. Thor's royal guard is going to be working with Earth's Avengers as part of an interplanetary cooperative investigation into the whole mass disappearance thing. Also there's another group we're teaming up with called the Guardians. Send Hill over and we'll give you the details."

Ross remained silent for a long moment. Then: "Agent Maria Hill's disappeared."

Stark blinked. "Oh. By which you mean 'dissolved into ash,' right?"

"Presumably. There's video footage. And of Fury." Ross shoved his hands in his pockets. "But I've got someone else."

* * *

"Agent Everett Ross." The man put out his hand and Rogers shook it. "CIA. You might remember, we…"

"You worked with the Joint-Counter-Terrorism Task Force." Rogers nodded. "You told me I was lucky not to be in a cell."

"You were." Everett said, crossing his arms. He stood on the ramp of the quinjet in the Stark Tower hangar. His face looked drawn and irritated. "Lucky to have a friend like Stark. Ordinary people don't get to just beat up a multi-national law enforcement squad and walk away scott-free, you realize."

"This is off to a good start." Rhodes muttered.

"Someone around here needs to care about the UN's interests." Everett said, with a glance at Rhodes. "Or at least I certainly need to. Sort of my job. But a liason team does need to appreciate the interests of both sides, so…" He nodded to the other agent walking down the ramp of the Quinjet.

Agent Sharon Carter brushed back her blonde hair. "Hello again, Steve." She smiled.

"Probationary service." Everett said, looking at the two heroes. "You realize you left her sitting with a pile of charges when you and your friends hopped off to Siberia, right?"

"It's all right, Ross." Carter looked a little annoyed.

"It's really not." Everett glared at her. "CIA takes a chance on an ex-SHIELD operative and the first thing she does is leak info to rogue agents and 'liberate' prototype weaponry. You're pretty lucky not to be in a jail cell yourself."

Rhodes closed his eyes. "Y'done?"

Everett faced the major, and deflated a little. "Yes, colonel." He said.

"I get where you're coming from, agent, believe me." Rhodes said. "But we've got bigger issues on the table right now, and talking over old wounds isn't going to solve anything." He gestured toward the door at the back of the room. "Now I understand you want an explanation."

* * *

"Hey Clint."

"Hey Nat."

"Thanks for meeting me like this."

"The UN guy said it was okay, so no worries. They're giving me my gear back, too. Not sure yet whether that means they expect me to hunt you or work with you."

Silence.

"Clint, I know how much your family means to you, and I know you have to think of them first…"

"Actually I don't."

More silence.

"Not anymore."

"Oh."

Longer silence.

"You mean they...?"

"Crumbled to dust, yes. Look, Nat, just tell me two things, okay?"

"Okay. What's the first thing?"

"Can you bring them back?" 

* * *

"These people are completely dead then, right?" Everett said, jotting down notes in a legal pad.

"Not so much dead as wiped from existence." Banner said. He and Nebula were standing in front of a whiteboard with a diagram of a gauntlet and two stick figures, one with x's over his eyes and tongue sticking out. "No corpses, obviously. But by every standard definition, yes. They're not in some other dimension or trapped in some amulet or anything like that. They're gone."

"Alien superweapon." Everett rubbed his eyes. "Security Council's going to love this. And this alien, Thanos… what's to prevent him from using it again?"

"We think the tool he used gets exhausted after one use." Banner said.

"But he could probably get it repaired." Nebula pointed out.

Everett tapped his pen against his chin. "Does he have demands? Can we reason with him?"

"No, and no." Banner said. "We're not even yet sure where he is anymore, or how to contact him. He has no demands of the Earth, he doesn't want tribute or service or sacrifices. He just…" He shrugged. "…I don't know. Wants to kill people."

"He wants balance." Nebula said. "He thinks killing half the universe's population will keep resources from dwindling out."

Everett squinted. He was clearly trying to process the idea. "Just… any half."

"Yes." Nebula said.

"Like if there was a planet of pacifistic science-monks, he'd kill half of them." Sharon, who was sitting next to him, said.

"Impartially."

"If there were only two pandas left in the world, he'd kill one and leave the other unable to reproduce." Everett pressed.

"The gauntlet doesn't differentiate, so yes." Nebula seemed puzzled at the panda reference but let it go.

Sharon and Everett exchanged glances.

"Does he realize this will only slow the rate of consumption, not halt it completely?" Sharon asked.

"He might. He might not." Nebula shrugged.

"So what happens when—if—these civilizations recover and regain their original quotas?" Everett asked.

"He probably does it again." Nebula said.

Everett and Carter exchanged glances. "Well." Ross closed his legal pad. "That's terrifying. And… you Avengers. What's your plan?"

* * *

"Clint…"

"The truth, Nat. This is too important for sugar-coating. Can. You. Bring. Them. Back?"

Silence.

"No. There's nothing we can do. I'm sorry, Clint, but your family… they're gone."

Silence.

"Then it's time for my second question. Are you killing the bastard responsible?" 

* * *

"We will crush Thanos and mount his head on a spike at the far end of the galaxy." Nebula said.

Ross turned around to look at Steve. He shrugged. "Basically." 

* * *

"That's the plan."

"Then I'm in." 

* * *

"Probably not the spike bit." Rhodes explained, with a sidelong look at Steve. "But, essentially, yes. The plan is to eliminate Thanos and render his weapon inoperable. Like we said, there's no guarantee he won't try this again. As long as he's alive and in possession of the Guantlet, there's no telling when he might choose to do it again."

"We can't bring back the people he killed." Steve said. "But we can make damn sure he doesn't kill anymore."

"Cap just said damn..." Banner murmured.

Ross and Sharon again exchanged glances. "No disrespect Captain, but by your own account, you tried to kill him already." Ross said. "Unless you're implying you weren't really trying in that battle you described."

"We'll be coming at him unexpected." Steve said. "We'll have all the time we need to prepare. And we'll be coming at him together. Our odds aren't great, I know." His face suddenly hardened. "It doesn't matter. Either we kill him, or die trying."

"Steve..." Sharon said.

"And what," Everett said, "do you need to make sure that happens?"

Rogers blinked at the man. "I'm sorry…?"

"Understand something, Captain." Everett said. His eyes were narrowed, his speech was sharp and clipped, as if he were biting out his words. "I've been at the UN the last few days. I've heard a lot. Everyone knows someone who died. Everyone lost someone close to them. Everyone wants vengeance." He paused. "Honestly, the real problem the UN has right now is that they're not sure who to take vengeance ON, so they've been taking it out on each other. But once they find out who is?" He gave a little laugh and shook his head. "The English ambassador lost his brother. The Japanese ambassador lost two sons and his oldest friend on a jet unlucky enough to lose both its pilots. The French ambassador lost his wife AND one of his mistresses. Secretary Ross lost his daughter. The Russian ambassador's wife..." Everett looked away for a moment, "...died on the operating table, along with their unborn child. They think the surgeon could have saved them, if he hadn't crumbled away."

The conference room was utterly quiet. Banner had gone pale and slack jawed, his clipboard had fallen from his nerveless hand. Sharon said nothing, she was staring at the floor, lost in thoughts of her own. Only the slightest tremor of her shoulders betrayed her feelings.

"A lot of my friends are dead." Everett said. "Most notably, the king of Wakanda. So let me ask you again: what do you need to make this son of a bitch pay?"

There was a short silence before a new voice broke in.

"Well," said Tony, tossing a broken chest piece into the wastepaper basket. "I've always been curious what a vibranium suit would be like." He looked at Ross. "You say you know people there?"


	3. Re-Arm

**Re-Arm**

* * *

"Everett, do you know what the penalty for stealing vibranium and selling it to the outside world is?

"Not really." Ross said. "We didn't even know you still had Vibranium until last year. But I'm guessing it's a pretty stiff penalty."

"You might say that." Nakia sniffed. "Treason, I suppose, would be the closest colonizer equivalent. Or a dishonorable discharge, if that meant getting fed to the lions and your entire family falling into disgrace."

Ross's brow wrinkled. "You feed people to lions?"

"Used to." Nakia shrugged. "Not anymore. We lost too many lions. Now we just make them drink ceremonial poison. Sort of like taking a cyanide tablet."

"Makes sense. Exile would just spill the secret." Ross said. "I understand it's a lot to ask. Especially since Shiuri probably can't spare the political capital it would take to permit it."

"Shiuri can't spare the poitical capital to breathe right now, Everett. It wouldn't even be up to her. It'd be a council decision, and the council is not… welcoming right now." Nakia sighed and took a long drink from the glass in front of her. "I'm pretty sure they're watching me, too. I suppose my ties to the outside world make me suspect."

"So that's a no?"

"No." Nakia pulled a briefcase from under the table. "I just want you to appreciate what I'm doing here." 

* * *

Wong frowned at the visitors. "Trace the Time Stone."

Thor nodded. "We were hoping to find where it—and the other stones—are."

"You mentioned you swore a vow to protect it." Banner said. "You must have had a way of analyzing the energy—of finding it if it were lost."

"The Eye of Agomotto, yes." Wong said. "The Time Stone itself is beyond enchantment. It involves primordial energies from the dawn of time unable to be altered or manipulated by even the greatest…"

"Look, can you at least talk to the Sorcerer Supreme, see if he'll…" Banner stopped. "Who is the Sorcerer Supreme now, anyway?"

"Me." Wong did not look happy about it. "Of course, half the other candidates died, so it was a limited pool."

"Congratulations!" Thor beamed.

"Okay…" Banner seemed a bit confused by this news. "So… as Sorcerer Supreme, don't you have a duty to recover the Time Stone?"

Wong nodded. "Our mages have been working on locating it since the Vanishing." He said.

"The Vanishing." Banner thought this over. "Is that what we're calling it?"

"That's what we're calling it." Wong said. "We cannot permit the Time Stone to remain in the hands of Thanos. However, we can find no trace of it."

"Hang on, hang on." Banner said. "Tony thought Strange might have put some sort of spell on the Time Stone, could it have been…"

"We thought of that." Wong shook his head. "If he did, we can find no trace of it."

"Have you looked in space?" Thor said, stepping forward. "We're pretty sure he's in space."

Wong just looked at the Asgardian. "Yes." He said.

Banner seemed to be thinking hard. "So… you can't trace the stones. But you could trace a tool used to house them."

Wong's face changed.

"Like, say, a gauntlet." 

* * *

"I do not understand, my Princess." The old attendant said. "This sanctum has been deserted since the Killmonger set flames in the flowerbeds and defiled its refuge. There is nothing to be found here."

"I know." Shuri said. She was walking along the paths, eyes tracing idly over the blackened soil. "I'm not really here to… get anything."

"Then… why are you here?"

Shuri took a deep breath and turned to the old woman. "I wish to undergo the ritual." She said. "I wish to commune with my dead… ancestors."

"My princess." The old woman looked astonished. "The ritual was designed for those with the strength of the Black Panther. One without that power…" She shook her head. "I do not know whether it would have any impact. Or indeed whether it would simply kill the participant."

"Then I shall be more directly communing with them." Shuri smiled. From her robe, she withdrew two vials and a needle. "This should enable me to survive the process. It will induce a deathlike coma. I will be barely breathing, so being buried should pose no problem."

The old woman chewed her lip. "And the other?" She said, looking at the deep red vial.

"My brother's blood." Shuri smiled. "Who knows but that the power of the Black Panther still lies within?"

The old woman nodded slowly. "It were best if you were to strip for the ritual, my queen." 

* * *

"Tony, I don't want a suit. I have a suit."

Rocket snorted from where he was perched on the computer console. "If you call those full-length pajamas a suit."

"You have a Kevlar breathable weave." Stark said, eyes focused on the robots in the factory below. "Nat has a leather catsuit."

"I've moved on to Kevlar too, actually." Widow said.

"Ya morons realize we're going into space, right?" Rocket said, arms crossed. "Like Thanos, he's actually out there, in space? This Kevlar stuff, how well's it work out in space?"

"I thought the plan was for Thor to just use the bifrost." Nat said.

"Right." Tony gave a grimace. "Because things have been going so well according to plan so far."

"Tony." Cap stepped forward. "I'm not saying you're going overboard here. I'm not honestly sure that's possible, given what we're up against. But hear me out. Nat, Clint and I… we're not like you. We rely on our speed and agility. I can't move around like I need to if I'm wearing a space suit."

"Yeah? The one I made for the kid didn't slow…" Tony stopped and bit his lip.

Nat and Cap exchanged glances, and there was a short silence.

"Look." Tony said. "The point is, I can make these. And we might need them. Just… let me work, okay?"

"Stop working." Thor strode into the lab. "These tools are not sufficient to help you."

"Hey!" Rocket looked offended.

"Uh, sorry? This is the most advanced production facility on earth." Stark said, turning around, head bent at a defiant angle. "No offense to whatever that place you keep gushing about in Wakanda was like, but I doubt they had places designed specifically for this kind of weaponry. And anyway we can't go back there."

"Yes, my friend, your facility here is an excellent one." Thor clapped Stark on the shoulder. "For earth. But you have done all that is possible with the tools and material you have here. You require a far greater forge for your ideas."

"What did I just say?"

"Hang on, hang on." Rocket hopped off the console. "You're not talking about going back there, are you?"

"It seems we must return to the realm of Nidavellir to find and trace the workings of Thanos' gauntlet and find where he has stowed it." Thor said. "So yes. That is what I am talking about. Eitrii can no longer work his own forges, and his works would burn up the mind of a mortal in an instant. However, the forges themselves, and the tools, are still there, waiting for a capable craftsman..." He nodded to Tony, "...to put to use."

Rocket grinned. "Oh, yes please."

"Sorry." Stark said. "Nee-dad-velcro is what now?"

Thor looked at him. "Nidavellir is the realm of the dwarves and the great forge-world of Asgard where the great weapons of the cosmos are made. It was there that the Destroyer was created, there that Heimdall's sword was forged, there that the Infinity Gauntlet itself was shaped, and there that my hammer first was raised to the skies."

"Your hammer." Stark stepped forward. "Your big, magic, supercharged hammer that no one can lift or wield."

"My Thanos-killing Hammer." Thor smiled. "Yes."

Stark turned away. "I don't understand your hammer." He said, walking back to his desk. "I doubt I'd understand anything at this Nidavellir place, and I'm too busy for a field trip."

Thor considered this. "Then your current weapons are suited to fighting Thanos?" He asked.

Stark stopped. He lifted his hand, traced it down his cheek.

Glances were exchanged around the laboratory.

"Fine." Stark said, whirling on his heel. "I'll take a look at this place of yours, see what I can help them out with. Maybe work out some sort of melding of the tech."

A cough interrupted them. Agent Everett Ross was there, looking troubled. "Does that mean you won't be needing this?" He said, lifting the suitcase.

Tony's face lit up. "Everett, you big beautiful man." He said, bounding over. "This is almost definitely going to be 9 times more useful than Big Blonde's realm of the elves."

"Dwarves." Thor said. Rocket snorted.

"Worst-case scenario, we can use it to make Cap and Nat some decent outfits like Cat-Man had." Tony opened up the case. "Hm. Kinda was hoping for more. You sure this is all you can get?" He looked at Ross.

Ross frowned. "That's enough to buy several Southeast Asian countries." He said, crossing his arms. "And it was dangerous enough getting that. Trust me. That's all we're getting out of Wakanda." 

* * *

"Where is your brother?"

Shuri turned, and her heart dropped. Before her stood a Totem-masked half-cat man. The whole world seemed like something sketched out on an old woodcut. Her own movements felt stiff and jerky.

But even so, she knew who she stood before.

"I had hoped to find him here, father." She said. "I wished to ask his counsel."

"But not mine?" The totem mask morphed into a frown. "He is not among us. But nor is he among the living. It is as though his very essence has been obliterated. How is this possible?"

"I do not know, baba." Shiuri said. "These are strange times in Wakanda, and in the world. That is partly why I wished to speak with him."

"Partly." The Totem Mask tilted. "What else troubles you, daughter?"

Shuri swallowed. "I do not wish to rule." She said. "I alone stand in line to inherit the throne, but I have never been prepared. I know nothing of the process of administration, or of diplomacy, or of war. And should I be challenged…" She shook her head.

Her father was silent. "This is my failing." He said. The hand he reached forward was long and gaunt, but it felt smooth on her cheek. "I should have prepared you better. I am sorry, little one. I never thought this burden would fall upon you."

Shuri gave a little laugh. "No one did. Some say it should not have."

"Men say all manner of things." Her father waved a hand. "Particularly of women. There are many things that should not happen, which do. There are many tasks which we do not want to do, but must."

"But… I do not know anything." Shuri felt her father wasn't getting the point. "I'm an engineer, baba. Not a… governor, or chief. I will get things wrong."

"A ruler can occasionally be wrong." The totem mask shrugged exaggerated shoulders. "So long as they are not uncertain. And you have learned already the first lesson, which is what you know and what you do not know." The mask tilted, considering her. "A wise ruler knows who to trust, and for what."

Shuri's eyes lit up. "You mean to delegate responsibility?"

The mask looked annoyed. "I have spoken to you about your fondness for colonizer expressions."

"But that's what you meant, yes?"

"Yes." The mask sighed. "Many a stupid king has ruled well by simply knowing who can do parts of his job better than he."

Shuri gave a little jump and clapped her hands. "Thank you, baba!" She crowed, darting forward and giving the totem mask a peck on its wooden cheek. "I know what I can do." 

* * *

Siuri came up gasping through the sand, clawing it desperately aside.

"My queen!" The old woman was beside her. "Did it work? What did you see?"

Shuri waved her away. "Go." She said. "Call for General Okoye. Tell her I must speak with her."

She looked down as she spoke. There, in the blackened soil, she thought she could see a tiny purple blossom.


	4. Refusal

**Refusal**

* * *

"So… ship or bifrost?"

"Even Quill's jumper will take a few days to fly there and back." Rocket said, jogging alongside the heroes as they walked toward the heli-pad. "Pirate-Angel gets us to Nidavellir quicker."

"I must attend in any case." Thor said, nodding, making long, easy strides. "Eitrii is not in a mood to accept strangers; you will need the king of Asgard to gain entrance."

"Bifrost it is, then." Stark grimaced.

"This is pointless." Nebula turned to block the line of heroes. "You are Avengers? All you've done so far is talk. And now you're leaving to talk some more."

"Work." Tony said. "The word you're looking for is work." He brushed past her. "We had ten years to prepare for Thanos and it still wasn't enough. Few weeks before we attack him seems reasonable."

"Especially since we don't even know where he is." Banner pointed out.

"All this sitting around galls me." Nebula said, stalking after Tony. "Sitting around does not make a warrior. A warrior takes action. A warrior fights. If not the target she wants, then another target which will make her stronger…"

"There is only one target I'm interested in right now, and we don't know where he is." Tony said, not slackening his pace. "The best way to find him is what we're doing. But tell you what." He turned suddenly, practically coming face to face. "Go ahead and take Quill's 'jumper' or whatever you want to call it, and start smashing up all the bars in the galaxy, asking if anyone's seen a big purple asshole."

Nat grinned. "Sounds fine to me." She said. Banner gave her a troubled look.

"Not to me." Cap shook his head. "I need to stay here. Help Rhodes with the UN."

Tony looked at him. "Seriously? I feel like you'd be the least useful person to help with the UN. They hate your guts. Remember? Sokovia Accords? You threw their fancy agreement back in their faces AND beat up their fancy multi-national squad."

"That's not the point." Cap said. "The world needs reassurance right now. They need to know what's going on, and they need to know things aren't going to fall apart. What does it look like if both the leaders of the Avengers go off world? Rhodes needs back-up. Plus…" He shrugged. "If they're going to hate me anyway, I'd prefer they do it to my face."

There was a short silence.

"Fair enough." Said Tony. "Just do me a favor and don't blow apart any more alliances. I don't want to come back here and find out that you blew up NASA because you found out about the Hubble Space Telescope."

"Noted." Said Cap.

"Also, it's not 'both the leaders of the Avengers.' I'm the leader of the Avengers, you quit. You're Thor's bodyguard." Tony said, turning back toward the quinjet.

Cap's mouth twitched but he said nothing.

"I'm still good on pumping the galaxy for info with Blue here, for the record." Widow said.

Banner looked at her. "Just the two of you?"

Nat looked back. "Jealous?"

Banner blinked. "What… uh… Jealous…? Jealous how, I don't understand… it's just there's a lot of nasty people in the universe, I'm… just… why would I be… _OH._ "

The corner of Nat's mouth twisted. "I'm sure we could fit in one more."

"Not an option. Bruce's big brain is with me." Tony said. They were outside now, the wind whipping at them. "Need him for weapons research. You girls have fun on your own."

"Y-yeah." Banner nodded. "Like Tony said… weapons research."

"So we all know where we're going. I'll check back in in a day or…" Stark broke off, suddenly whipping out his blasters. "What the hell?"

A ship of gleaming metal, resembling nothing so much as a giant locust, had flickered into existence just off the landing pad of Stark Tower. The Avengers immediately formed up in a defensive formation, but the ship smoothly folded back its wings and landed neatly, right next to Stark's own Quinjet.

The ramp on the new ship slid down and a lithe figure in tight-fitting black-and-gold armor descended the ramp. Her costume seemed a little bulkier than normal—particularly the hands, which ended in large gold gauntlets that seemed just a little too thick to be a normal part of the costume. But the profile was unmistakeable.

The catlike mask dissolved as the figure walked toward the Avengers. "The Black Panther of Wakanda," Shuri said, with a little grin, "wishes to join your mission."

There was a beat of silence as the Avengers stared at the newcomer.

"No." said Tony. 

* * *

"I keep telling you," Shuri said, her eyes narrowed, her teeth clenched. "I'm not a child."

"Y'know, that is exactly what a child would say." said Tony, giving a not-so-nice smile.

They were back inside the building, the trip having been temporarily postponed to handle this new development. Shuri had explained the situation—while Okoye was handling the administration of the kingdom, including the influx of refugees, Shuri, as protector of Wakanda, was dealing with the threat to her people. The council had agreed to the measure and had also agreed to postpone the ritual until the crisis was over. Shuri, with some nervousness, had gone over her qualifications and suggested several ways she could be helpful.

Tony, meanwhile, had suggested several different ways she could immediately leave and never come back.

"I am queen-elect of Wakanda." Shuri struck her chest with her fist. "My word is law within its borders. General Okoye, the new regent, answers to me alone." Technically not true, as Okoye could only ignore the council at her peril, but Stark was making her mad. "To me falls by right the role of the Black Panther, protector of Wakanda and avatar of the god Bas…"

"You're sixteen." Captain America said quietly. "I won't deny you're a genius and I've seen you in action in the ring, but a battle is a different story altogether."

That hurt. She'd hoped to have Cap as an ally. With a twitch of her hands she activated the gauntlets, letting them shift form into the cat-head sonic blasters. "I have means to defend myself. I will not hold you back. I am thoroughly trained in the arts of combat." Bit of a stretch, martial arts was not her greatest subject. "I have thoroughly analyzed the aliens and know their weaknesses." Technically not totally true, but it probably would be once she had a chance to look at the data she'd collected. "In me flows the power of the Black Panther; the enhanced strength, speed, and agility of the hero of the Wakandan people!"

Complete lie.

"No." said Stark.

"Come oooonnnn!" She dropped her hands and glared at him.

"Really not helping your 'I'm not a kid' argument." Nat grimaced. "Look, guys, not to undermine you or anything, but I was a lot younger than sixteen when I got my start."

"Did you get your start by matching punches with an otherworldly killer alien?" Steve asked.

"Actually, I'm not even sixteen." Rocket raised a tiny clawed hand. "I don't think I can even live to be sixteen. Granted, I've been messed up by all kinds of experiments so I don't know if it's quite a correlative experience, so…"

"Exactly!" Shuri'd take help where she could get it. "And Vision looks old, but he's not even three years into this world! He's practically a kid! Then there's SpiderMan…"

Stark looked up sharply, straight into her eyes, and Shuri's words died in her throat.

"No." said Stark. 

* * *

Banner hung back as the others left the room. "Did you bring…?" He raised his eyebrows hopefully.

Part of Shuri wondered if she should use this as a bargaining chip. But what would be the point? If she could do nothing else, she could at least do this. Anyway, if she refused, they'd probably just break into her ship.

So she nodded. "He's in the ship." She said.

She led the way back to her ship—the royal flyer, one of the finest in Wakanda—with Banner hovering over her shoulder the whole way. She led him straight to the inner chamber and the casket mounted in the very middle.

Beneath the glowing energy field, the half-crumbled remains of Vision rested lightly on a hoverbed. Countless wires traced in and out of the faintly glittering circuitry of his organs.

"Hasn't woken up." She said. "But there's just the faintest flicker of brain-wave activity. Just enough to where I'm sure it's not a fluke. There's something of him in there, the question is just…" She shrugged. "…how much, and whether it can get to the surface."

"Amazing he's held on for this long." Banner knelt by the casket. "Was it safe to move him?"

"Probably not. I had little choice." Shuri said, looking over the thick cables that ran from the casket to the reactor. "The Council might have ordered him unplugged if they learned of his existence." She hesitated. "His condition did seem… stable enough to attempt it."

"I think… my word, I think his body's repairing itself." Banner said, taking out his glasses. "Extraordinary."

"All bodies repair themselves." A new voice cut in. Black Widow walked into the room. "Eventually." She looked around. "So this is a Wakandan flier. Damn. My bosses in Russia would kill for this stuff. They must be so mad to find out how long you guys have had the wool over our eyes."

"…yes." Shuri responded. That was something she would have to worry about now, she realized. Politics between America and Russia. Probably China, too.

"So he's alive." Black Widow looked at the crumbled remains.

"By… certain definitions." Banner said. "If we were going by heartbeats, he's never been alive. But there's something there." He looked up at Shuri. "I'll get something set up in Tony's lab… I think we still have the cradle we originally used to craft him. Maybe that'll help."

"We owe you, kid." Widow smiled.

"Not a kid." Shuri muttered.

"Right." Widow said. Sighing, she took a step forward and looked straight at Shuri. "Look. Tony's not going to budge, no matter what any of us say. Never has," a tiny eye roll, "but especially not now, and especially not on bringing anyone else."

"Makes sense." Shuri said.

"Hang on though." Widow said. She placed a hand on Shuri's shoulder. "Tony's the boss of the Avengers, but that's not the only group in this revenge tour. I don't take orders from him and neither does Cap."

Shuri eyed her. What was the woman saying?

Widow grinned at her. " You want to help? Fly off—Tony's not going to leave until he's confident you're gone-and come back in an hour. Tony'll be gone, and you can decide whether you want to help Boy-Scout with the UN, or go bust heads with me and Nebula."

"Nebula and I." Banner said, _sotto voce_.

Nat sent him a glare. Shuri wondered what was going on with these two.

"You could also stick around and help with Vision." Banner said. "Just a thought." He rose. "Whatever you decide, I need to get things ready in the lab. Just… don't go anywhere for a bit."

* * *

Cap met Hawkeye, along with Carter, just coming up the elevator. "Well?" he asked.

"I can't find him." Clint shook his head. "Him or Hank."

"There's a trail, but it goes cold." Carter said, handing Cap a folder. "CIA and NSA can't help us. Quite possible he might have disintegrated. Wouldn't have even left a trace."

"Don't give up on it just yet." Cap said. "I agree it seems likely, but keep the snoops on alert just in case. A giant would be pretty handy against Thanos. Not you, though." He tapped Clint with the folder. "I've got a mission for you. Off-world."

Clint raised an eyebrow. "What, like… space?"

"Information-hunting." Cap said. "Figured we'd get more useful info from out there. Nat and Nebula are getting a ship together."

Clint looked unsure. "I don't know what help I'm going to be. I don't know a lot of people in space."

"It's busting heads and interrogating." Cap said. "Pretty much the same everywhere."

Carter and Clint looked at each other.

"Isn't it?" Cap said.

"No." Clint said. "Information gathering is largely a matter of having contacts and people you know in various regions. Once you actually know the lay of the land, you can get a better feel for when to punch and when to flatter, but you can't just walk up to a random shady-looking guy, start punching him, and expect the answers to start spilling out. Police work would be a lot simpler if that was the case."

"Half of the worth of a secret agent comes from the contacts they know." Carter said. "You weren't in intelligence, were you?"

Cap gave an irritated shrug. "I was more a commando. Peggy handled the espionage stuff. Look, if you don't want to go…"

"If you're sending Nebula we'll probably be fine." Clint said. "I'm just saying, I don't know how useful I'm going to be. But it'll do me good to get off earth for a bit."

Rogers looked at him. He placed a hand on his arm. "Clint…"

"Cap, seriously." Clint said. "We're neither of us strangers to losing people. We both know the best way is just to push through it and keep working."

Cap considered this a moment. "Not sure it's the best way." He withdrew his hand. "But I'll agree it's the only way I know." 

* * *

"So you're NOT going to Nidvaller" Tony watched his friend as he bustled about the lab.

"Not right now. I need to stay here-just long enough to get Vision situated." Banner said, hooking up cables to the cradle. "Contacted Dr. Cho—she's willing to come here and work on him. She's more familiar with his body; she'll actually be more useful than me." Banner popped up and looked at Tony. "The minute she gets here, I'm free to help out, but that could take a while. You guys should go ahead, get started without me."

"Right." Tony nodded, rubbing his chin. "Sounds like a plan."

There was a short silence. Banner looked at Tony. "You're thinking of saying something." He said, watching Tony. "I don't think I've ever known you to NOT say what you're thinking, unless you're planning to trick someone. Sometimes even if you are. What is it?"

Tony scratched his ear. "You talked to anyone about Big Green?"

Banner stared at him, then laughed.

"Who would I talk to?" He said, turning back to work. "What would I talk about? 'Hi, I'm the Hulk, I nee to get in touch with my more violent side?' I wouldn't even know where to start, Tony. This…" He passed a hand through his hair. "I burned through a lot of therapists just trying to get the Hulk under control. There's no one who has any relevant experience."

Tony nodded. "Just thought I'd ask." He said.

"Too bad we don't know a psychic." Banner smiled.

"One of the Guardians I met might have been helpful." Tony said. "Of course, she's dead now." He chewed his lip. "Lot of people are."

"People die all the time, Tony." Banner said. "Doesn't make those deaths meaningless, but it does make them a little less tragic."

"If you say so." Tony walked over to the window. "You seen the news? Pope—well, interim pope, really, I guess they're trying to select a new one right now—is going apeshit over this whole thing."

"Everyone is." Banner said, quietly. "I talked to Ross a bit. Riots in the street are just the least of it. Suicides are through the roof, the economy is collapsing… There's at least two different succession disputes going on right now, and probably nine civil wars. Genosha's going through a particularly bloody time—the prime minister and half the ruling party died, and the emergency elections are… not going well."

"The queen is dead." Stark said. "I heard that. Kinda pointless if you ask me, but apparently the English are pretty torn up about it."

Banner considered that. "Makes sense."

"A single death is a tragedy." Stark muttered. "A million deaths is a statistic."

Banner's brow furrowed. "Sorry?"

"Nothing." Stark shook his head. "Cold War saying. Joseph Stalin. Thought about it a lot after I got out of the arms business. Seems relevant right now."

Banner looked at Stark. The billionaire was facing the window, staring out at the city scape. The sun was beginning to go down, and the sky was painted in orange and reds.

"Tony…" Banner hesitated. "…about Pepper…"

"We need to get going." Stark said, turning abruptly. "You got things here, right? You look like you got things here. I'll send Thor back in a few days to check in and collect you." He tapped the chestpiece, activating the nano suit, and before Banner could say another word, Tony had whisked out of the lab.

"…right." Banner said, chewing his lip. 

* * *

Thor looked up as Tony coasted to a landing. "Are you ready, Stark?"

"Bout time you showed up." Rocket snarked, letting his gun fall against his shoulder. "You realize ever moment we spend on this dirtball is time we could be spending building kickass weapons?"

"Is that any way to talk about your home planet?" Tony raised an eyebrow at him.

"Home planet? What're you talking about?" Rocket scoffed.

"Take a look around if we get a chance to come back here, might find some interesting company." Tony said. He looked at Wong, standing next to Thor. "All set when you are, Crouching Dragon."

Wong just rolled his eyes.

Thor raised his hammer to the skies. There was a crackle of thunder, a burst of light…

…and then they were gone.


	5. Reconnoiter

Reconnoiter

Eitrii stared down at the new visitors to his world. "Odinson. I made Stormbreaker for you to kill Thanos. Not to bring more money-grubbing midgets to my door."

"Dwarf, you said." Tony said, staring up thoughtfully at the giant.

"King of the dwarves." Thor said. "It is, as you say, true that Thanos still lives. The fault is mine and the blame is mine, but it might yet be amended. We…"

"Bah." Eitrii waved a dismissive cast-iron hand. "Do as you wish with my kingdom. It matters little to me anymore."

He stumped away, found a handy pillar to slump against, and sat heavily on the floor.

Tony frowned. "You're being a very rude host. I was promised a top-notch facility. This place is a wreck. Aren't you going to show us around?"

Eitrii spread his hands, a mock smile on his face. "Behold Nidavellir." He said. "Grand forge of Asgard, graveyard of the dwarves."

"Birthplace of the Infinity Gauntlet." Wong said, stepping forward.

Eitrii seemed to notice him for the first time.

"Or so I was told." Wong said.

Eitrii studied him a moment. "You are the Sorcerer Supreme?" He asked.

"For the moment." Wong grimaced.

"The wizards of Earth are renowned throughout the universe." Eitrii said. He lifted his claw-like arms. "Perhaps you can help me with these."

"Excuse me?" Tony blinked. "Are you … are you not seeing me over here, in the actual literal robot suit of armor? If anyone here can make you new hands it's me."

"Do not annoy me with your baubles, boy." Eitrii spared the inventor a spurious glance. "Your fragile wires and sparks are of no use to a dwarf. But a wizard…" He again looked at Wong. "A wizard taps into the fabric of creation."

Wong shrugged. "Let us see what can be done."

* * *

"Shame we couldn't have waited for Shuri to get back." Widow said.

Nebula waved a careless hand. "Bah. We'll be jumping in and out of that dirtball planet of yours. We can easily pick up your pet next time we head back down."

"Really need to work on your conversation skills." Widow frowned at the woman.

"Why?" Nebula looked at her.

Widow shrugged. "People might take offense to their home planet being called a 'dirtball.'"

Nebula stared at her. "I kill people. It's what I do. What I say is easily the least offensive part about me."

"Suppose you've got a point there." Widow said. "Still. Might make more friends that way. Wouldn't have to kill as many people if you did."

"What would be the benefit of that?" Nebula frowned. "I enjoy killing."

"So how about this hyperspace stuff, hey?" Hawkeye said, breaking into the conversation. "All the galaxy at Earth's door, and we never knew! Stark is going to have a field day once he figures out interstellar travel."

"Stark doesn't seem of a mood to enjoy field days." Widow said. "Still…" She looked over at Nebula. "Where are we going, exactly?"

"The Ravagers." Nebula said. "Space smugglers, pirates, general scum. I have connections with them, and by reports there's a large gathering out by Deltino. They can let us know where the best place to start would b—"

The ship lurched suddenly as an explosion shook the craft. Widow jumped to the console as Nebula grabbed the controls. "What happened?"

"We're being fired upon." Nebula said, tersely. "They must have been waiting for us to jump out of hyperspace…"

"Not to… question your experience…" Hawkeye said, staring out the front window. "But I don't think they exactly meant to hit _us._ "

Against the backdrop of Deltino, spaceships were exploding amidst blistering laser fire. Corpses were floating in the vaccum of space alongside half-destroyed hulks, even as tiny fighters zipped about, scorching the larger cruisers with their fire.

"Is someone attacking the Ravagers?" Widow looked to Nebula.

The blue-skinned woman slowly shook her head. "The Ravagers are attacking the Ravagers."

* * *

"ENOUGH!"

There wasn't much that could halt a swelling mob in its tracks. These people had already broken through two police barricades and a chain of nonviolent demonstrators. They'd smashed into their counter protestors with wild abandon, hurling rocks, pop cans, glass bottles. Pipes had come out, tire irons, crowbars.

It was unlikely they'd have even heard Steve Rogers' appeal if War Machine hadn't gotten their attention with that large bullhorn blast.

"Return to your homes!" Captain America, in full red, white, and blue, stood emblazoned on an upturned car, his old star-spangled shield firmly clutched in his right hand. "You're all of you making this worse! This will solve nothing!"

Muttering was heard through the crowd. "Is that-?" "Thought he was dead." "Dirty fugitive. " "Real hero." "Is he with War Machine?" "Aren't they fighting?" "Doesn't look like it anymore."

"Look at yourselves!" Captain America shouted, his powerful voice echoing down the street. "Is this how America reacts in a time of crisis?"

"Give us justice!" A voice called from the back.

"They won't take any more!" Another voice called from the opposite side. "Not one more!"

Echoing cries rang out. "Justice! Justice! Justice!" "Not one more!" "No more!" "No more death!" "We won't take it!"

"No one here has anything to do with the deaths!" Captain America shouted.

"We know better than that!" A new voice shouted from one side. "It's a bioweapon those maniacs cooked up!"

"Don't try to pin this on us!" A voice from the other side shouted. "You can't deny it! It's some damn magic ritual!"

Cap sighed. "There's no such thing as…"

"Cap." War Machine muttered. "There sort of is."

Competing cries rang across the street. "Aliens!" "Lizard-people!" "Nanobot genocide!" "You can't fool us!" "No more!" "No more!" "Justice!"

War Machine stepped closer to Captain America, turning back-to-back. "Cap." He muttered. "This may not have been a great idea. I don't got a lot of nonlethal ordnance in this thing. If it comes to it, our only option is to jet."

Cap just gave the barest nod. "If it looks bad, pull out." He said. "No offense, but you're a firefight waiting to happen."

"What about you?"

"What _about_ me?" Cap glanced over. "I've got a shield."

"Not sure that's gonna be enough." War Machine's optics tracked over the crowd. "Sensors are picking up a buttload of guns in this bunch."

"Pretty sure I see a couple guns on my side too." Cap muttered. "Bound to be more." He grimaced. "Give 'em another blast with the airhorn. At the very least we can give the riot team time to organize."

BLLLLAAAAANW!

The noise quieted the crowd, but only partially. The bullhorn was losing its effectiveness.

"Listen!" Cap said. "You want to blame someone for this? Blame the Avengers! Blame me!" He spread his arms wide. "Me! Steve Rogers! Captain America! Blame the man who was supposed to protect you, who swore to protect you, and who failed!"

There was a silence.

"Not that this means as much." War Machine said, flipping up his visor. "But as far as that goes, you can blame me too. Colonel James Rhodes. Right here, people."

"We set out to make the world a safer place." Cap said. "And we led you to believe it would be. We shaped a world— _I_ shaped a world, where you relied upon us. Where you needed us. I, myself, chose the battlefield and the means of defending you. And I failed." Leaping down from the car, he stood before the line of protestors. "You want someone to blame for your lost loved ones. You want to hurt someone. I've been there." He scanned the line of dockworkers, store clerks, housewives, college students. "You want to punch someone?" He gave a challenging tilt to his head. "Punch me."

A longer silence.

"That goes for you too, by the way." Cap swiveled to look at the other side of protestors. "I can't give you your loved ones back. Honestly, I'm pretty sure I can't stop either one of you guys from tearing into the other one, if it comes to that. But I'll be damned if I'm going to sit by and let anyone else get smashed to pieces for my mistake."

Again, a long silence.

"Damn." Rhodes muttered to himself. "No following that up, is there?"

Then a rock sailed through the air. It missed, crashing against the car, but it was a statement of intent. "My son is dead!" A shrill voice cried. "He's gone, you monster!"

A glass bottle came sailing from the other side. That smacked against the back of Cap's head, rebounding sharply with a clang and splintering on the street. Then came tin cans, half-filled water bottles—Rhodes even thought he saw a smartphone go sailing past.

The barrage slowed as a beefy cab driver shouldered his way to the front. "Y'think you can just stop this?" He shouted, his eyes red. "Think y'can just… give a pretty speech and make all this go away?"

Cap was hunched over, now—a brick had badly winded him and forced him to his knees. But he looked up. "No." He said, his voice slightly husky. "I just can't… walk away from it, either."

Slowly, he stood up. In the street, the sound of sirens, of breaking glass, of gunshots, even, echoed, telling of a thousand other streets in New York.

"C'mon." Cap said, nodding at the cab driver. "You came here to do something. Go and do it, then."

The cab driver looked at Steve, towering over him. He curled his lip.

The first punch slammed into Cap's chest. The second and third hit on either side of his face. The cab driver took just a moment to survey his work before kicking Cap soundly in the groin.

Rhodes remained where he was.

The cab driver had clearly been in fights before. He knew where to hit, how to hit. And there was a passion behind them, a savagery.

"Come on!" He began to shout. "COME ON!"

Cap simply stood up again, and nodded at him to continue.

"You think this makes it better?!" The Cab driver shouted, pummeling Cap's chest with his fists. "YOU THINK THIS FIXES IT?"

Cap just took it. Letting the blows pound into him. Tiny gasps and groans started to escape him as the blows began to strike on fresh bruises, but he braced himself and stood firm against the blows.

The cab driver stepped back, panting. Cap toppled forward, a little, and spat up some blood.

"Do you… think…" The cab driver panted. "This changes… a single… goddamn thing?"

Cap shook his head, slowly.

"No." He said. "But it's better than what you were doing."

The driver gave a choking laugh. He looked around, at all the staring faces. "What're you all looking at?" He shouted. He looked down at Cap again and, almost half-heartedly, kicked the man.

Then he turned, and shoved his way back into the crowd.

Slowly, as if something had been accomplished, the crowds started to disperse. There were clanging noises as various impromptu weapons were tossed aside, muttering , the occasional store window shattering, almost out of some sense of obligation. A few last jeers and threats were being tossed back and forth.

Rhodes slowly clambered down from the car. "Jeez, man." He said, helping Cap up. "UN's gonna love that look on you."

Cap laughed and wiped more blood from his mouth. "Ross is blowing up your radio, isn't he."

"Wants to know what you were thinking jumping out of the helicopter like that. We got a press conference to go to."

"Right." Cap nodded. "Right."

"Hey." Rhodes grabbed his shoulder. "That was inspiring as hell, but if you do that for every riot we fly over, we ain't ever getting to the UN."

"I know." Cap said. He looked around the streets, and let out a deep sigh. "Guess I just… I didn't think we'd still be losing."

* * *

"Now imbibe the runes." Eitrii instructed.

Wong's considerable forehead knit in concentration as his hands wove in strange shapes.

"You cannot be serious." Stark said, watching. "That's a solid hunk of metal. There's not a single hinge in there."

"Not yet there's not." Eitrii agreed. "And a good thing, too. Your clumsy pre-forged hinges would bend and break under the stresses of daily forge work. This is more reliable work that will tolerate and resist the heat of the furnaces."

"It's rock." Stark insisted.

"Stark." Wong muttered. "Shut up."

"My work requires energies and trial of which you can only begin to grasp, artificer." Eitrii rumbled. "The magic that burns in a dwarves veins would consume such baubles as your suit."

"I'm so glad we're all getting along." Thor beamed.

* * *

"Nebula, you damn crazy bitch, I nearly shot you." Stakar holstered his weapon.

"Kinda surprised you didn't." Nebula arched a metallic eyebrow. She stood in the ramp of Quill's jumper, flanked on either side by Widow and Hawkeye, staring down at Stakar about about twenty heavily-armed Ravagers. "We've never exactly been friends. And from the looks of things, you're not in a very friendly situation."

Stakar waved his hand angrily and stalked back toward the door. "I don't have time for this. I'm needed on the main deck. Come along or get out."

Hawkeye and Widow traded glances, but they fell into step behind Nebula as they paced through the ship.

"So." Nebula said. "Relationship issues? Or is that not Aleta's symbol on the other ships out there?"

"Aren't you a genius." Stakar grumbled. "Been out of the loop for a bit, Nebula? Aleta's never been happy with how I've led the Ravagers, and she decided half of us dying was a good time to make a push for it."

Hawkeye tugged on Nebula's arm. "I thought you said the Ravagers were a loose confederation." He muttered.

Stakar turned around. "Who's the Terran? The two terrans?" He corrected, apparently noticing Widow for the first time.

"New crew." Nebula said.

"Yeah?" Stakar looked dubious. "You tell 'em what happened to your last one? Or is that why only two joined? Come to think of it, why are you in Quill's jumper to begin with?"

"You really want to know?" Nebula asked.

Stakar considered this for about five seconds before a new explosion rocked the ship. "Not now." He grumbled, whirling on his foot. "Maybe later. And to answer your question Terran, it is. That's what Aleta doesn't like about it." They stepped onto the bridge. "Charlie-27, what's the situation?"

"We've nailed down Aleta's battlecruiser, but it's hanging too far back for us to engage." A man roughly 8 feet tall turned as they entered. "The smaller ships are keeping us at bay, and if I try and send in rocket ordnance, Martinex takes it down."

"Damnit." Stakar hissed.

"I could take a boarding crew…" Charlie-27 started to say.

"Your men need you here." Stakar shook his head.

Charlie shrugged. "I'm the only one who can do it." He said. "Anyone else'd die before making it down the ramp."

Stakar seemed to consider this. Then he turned.

"Hey Nebula." He said. "You came here to ask a favor, right?"

Nebula grinned.

* * *

"… _these are the facts, such as I can lay them before you, esteemed delegates. Neither I nor Tony Stark nor Captain Rogers have anything to offer in this time. The crime is too deep for apologies and too devastating for comfort. It is the intent of the Avengers, in concert with the Guardians of the Galaxy and the Asgardian bodyguard, to launch a retaliatory strike upon the perpetrator of this mass genocide. This strike may be a daunting task, but it is one which we see as unavoidable. Such an attack cries out for redress. A statement of intent must be delivered. If, of course, the esteemed delegates of the UN disagree, we will naturally acquiesce in their wishes, however we wish to point out that the 2015 Sokovia Accords make little comment as to the nature of extra-terrestrial action, which leaves us with broad latitude in this regard. Should the assembly wish to alter these Accords, this would of course require deliberation. Until then, we shall pursue our task as Earth's Mightiest Heroes."_

 _"We will now be taking questions. I would first like to recognize the ambassador from France."_

 _"I should like to remind you that, as Steve Rogers is a fugitive, you addressing him as 'Captain' is a severe breach of protocol."_

 _"…Thank you, honored ambassador, I referred to his position in the Asgardian Bodyguard, where is the Captain of the Guard."_

 _"Also, I would like to remind the secretary that, as I understand that Mr Rhodes has pled non contendre to court-martial proceedings, he is no longer colonel, making your introduction equally grievous in breach of protocol. I must officially protest."_

 _"Protest so noted. The chair now recognizes the ambassador from the People's Republic of China."_

" _In Article 6, line 9 of the Sokovia Accords, it is clearly laid out that the Avengers are not to engage in alliances or treaties with foreign groups or personnel without first consulting with the UN governing body. In light of this, how do you defend your alliance with the Asgardian bodyguard?"_

 _"The Asgardian bodyguard is merely a retinue attached to the person of Thor, king of Asgard and a current member of the Avengers roster, albeit one that has yet to sign the Accords. This makes his retinue not a foreign body, but a sub-contracted asset of a member."_

 _"And the Guardians?"_

 _"As of this moment, there exists no formal treaty alliance between the Guardians and the Avengers. We are working toward the same goal, but there is no stated arrangement."_

 _"The chair recognizes the ambassador from Sierra Leone."_

 _"In your speech, you rightly make the point that the Avengers are given latitude in areas of 'extra-terrestrial' action. Might I instead suggest the term 'supra-terrestrial' to describe…"_

* * *

"Wow." Rogers sighed. "Now I remember why I never signed the accords."

"Really?" Rhodes raised an eyebrow at him. "And here I thought it had to do with your strong belief in the individual's right to determine what they deemed the proper course of action."

"Well yes." Rogers ran a hand through his hair. "That too."

Rhodes grinned, but it swiftly faded. "Everybody looking for someone to punch." He said. "Diplomats just have a different way of doing it." With a shrug, he settled deeper into the lounge chair. "Honestly, I think that went pretty well."

"…yes." Rogers said, looking up. "That… surprised me. Not just permission, but a discretionary budget and a dedicated UN agency to assist us."

"Which it'll take them several months to get together, and will probably involve a lot of red tape." Rhodes said. "They'll need to talk to their superiors, each of which will want to throw his own weight around to show how he's helping. If you ask me, it's more likely to be symbolic than anything. Still." He rubbed his chin. "Pretty significant gesture."

Rogers snorted. "You know, before I was… this." He gestured at his impressive muscles. "…I devoted a lot of time to different civilian projects. War bonds, obviously, but I also went around collecting scrap metal for battleships and stuff. It was supposed to be kid's work, but hey." He shrugged. "Anything to help out, right?" A chuckle. "After I got unfrozen, one of the things I discovered was that the scrap collection hadn't done a damn thing. Officials just took the scrap and dumped it in a landfill. The only point to the scrap collection initiative had been to make civilians feel like they were helping."

"You serious?" Rhodes grinned. "Damn."

"Well, I suppose if it'd gotten down to an actual shortage, they would have started using it." Rogers shrugged. "But I think it was actually important, in its own way. Everybody felt invested in the war, and even the soldiers felt like the nation was behind them, man, woman, and child." He shook his head. "I thought about those kids I collected scrap with a lot, on the front lines. I knew they were rooting for me."

"So what you're saying is symbolic stuff is important." Rhodes said.

Rogers grinned back at him. "You want to tell me you _don't_ feel more gung-ho about this knowing the UN's giving us backing?"

"Damn right I do." Rhodes nodded.

* * *

"HAHHAHAHHAA!"

"Shittttt…."

Hawkeye's teeth were clenched, his body tense. His hands gripped the console in front of him tightly as the Jumper zigzagged through the array of explosions with dizzying speed.

"DIE, FOOLS!" Nebula screamed at the ships exploding in her path.

It wasn't in Hawkeye's nature to scream, any more than it was Widow's, who sat in the chair beside him, equally tense, gripping the console equally hard. But Nebula's aerobatics were testing both of them pretty hard.

"You think this missile salvo can stop me? Pathetic Space-rats!"

"We're dead… we're Dead… we're not dead oh god." Hawkeye closed his eyes as a bulkhead whizzed past inches from the front.

"Quiet, terran." Nebula ordered. "I need to concentrate. FREEZE in the gaping vacuum of the abyss, Ravager Scum!"

"Concentrate on what?" Hawkeye dared to ask.

"Penetrating Martinex's defense matrix." Nebula said. "The coward hides behind his laser-light show like a mouse. But we'll be through before long, directly on course for Atela's hull!"

Hawkeye blinked. "Her hull. Weren't we trying to board her?"

"Yes! We shall crash onto her hull and break open the shell of her ship." Nebula's eyes lit up with fresh glee. "It will be glorious!"

"Hang on, we're not cyborgs." Widow dragged herself forward. "We can't survive in space!"

Nebula just gave a shrug. "Not my problem." Her eyes were fixed on the target. "Ah-ha! Your shield is penetrated, old fool! Prepare for the vengeance of Nebula!"

Widow and Hawkeye exchanged glances. As the ship hurtled toward the hindmost starship, they reached out, almost as one, and tapped a glowing icon on their suits.

Quill's ship slammed into Atela's cruiser at full speed, shattering against its hull in a brief but glorious fireball.

* * *

 **A/N:** No, I'm not planning to finish this. I never really had a particularly genius plan worked out, and now that Endgame's out this just feels redundant. So I thought I'd post what I have-sometime this week I'll submit one last chapter, basically describing where the story overall would have gone, along with a few snippets. And that'll be that.


	6. Remainder

**Remainder**

* * *

 _As I said, I'm not planning to finish this story, so I'll just post what my plan was for the remainder, with the snippets I'd already written out in quotes._

 _Nat and Clint, naturally, would be fine-they had tapped their chests to activate the Iron-Man suits Stark had given them. They kill Aleta, Martinex, etc. Stakar gives them a rundown of how broken-up the galaxy is from the Decimation, promises to send the Marauders out to look for Thanos._

 _Meanwhile Tony's not happy._

* * *

"Well, this whole place is useless." Stark said, throwing up his hands. "Bunch of giant medieval fancy forgeworks. Must be great if you need to melt a cuirass or put together a set of greaves."

"Or a gauntlet." Rocket suggested. Tony glared at him.

Eitrii snorted without turning around from where he was rooting around in the store room. "Just because your mind is too feeble to understand it, Terran, does not make it useless. It only makes YOU so."

"Oh yeah? Which one of the two of us here actually has a super-suit?" Stark looked around as if genuinely puzzled. "Oh! Is it just me? Gosh, did the useless human do something that the giant genius Snow White reject didn't think to do?"

Another snort. "Ask your friend why the dwarves made no suits of armor for themselves."

Stark looked to Thor.

"Because." Said Thor. "They thought Asgard would be their shield."

Stark winced, but was too pent-up to let the gaffe stop him. "This all is just underscoring my point." He said. "I don't understand this stuff. Like, I'm pretty sure this stuff is just fundamentally in another dimension from what I do. Hey, space monkey, you following any of this?"

Rocket looked suspiciously at Stark. "What's with you and the nicknames, man?"

"Garbage-bear's gear makes more sense to me than any of this magical metallurgy." Stark continued. "And he's got a gun that creates circuitry. Here, about the only bit I DID understand was that the stuff that gets made here would burn through the mind and body of a 'lesser mortal' like myself. Right?" He looked to Thor, who nodded. "And forgive me for noticing, but our entire remaining team is made up of 'lesser mortals'."

* * *

 _Anyway. He comes around eventually, of course, in part because..._

* * *

"Well, I sure as hell ain't the philosophic sort." Rocket sighed. "But… look. That speech you made. About how… y'know. You're alive because 'fate wills it so', or something."

"Yes." Thor nodded, a look of pain on his face.

"Well, it just… got me thinking." Rocket said. "Why Groot and not me? I mean, it was literally 50-50. Him or me. Half the universe. In a snap. So why'd the universe decide to take the bratty teenage talking plant instead of the bratty half-dead garbage bear?"

"Luck." Tony said.

"Fate wills it so." Thor said.

"Ehhh… sounds a bit cheesy when you say it like that, but yeah, basically." Rocket made a waffling motion with his hands. "I mean, you…" He gestured to Thor. "All that you said about how destiny decrees you will kill Thanos? It's still true. You ought to be dead three different ways just in the time I've known you. Pretty sure if Thanos had any say about it you'd be dead too. But someone wants you alive, and…" Rocket swallowed and looked down. "…someone wants me alive." Regaining confidence, he looked back up. "And I can't help but think it's to kick Thanos' ass."

"Head. Not the ass. The head this time." Thor gave a great smile. "But I agree."

"Hang on, what'd you say?" Tony said, looking up for the first time. "You, Ranger Rick, what was that about… someone wants us alive?"

"Well, I ain't a religious guy, like I said, I mean, I'm a flippin freak of nature." Rocket said. "But pirate-angel says 'Fate' and I'm good with that."

"Strange." Tony said.

Rocket shrugged. "Hey, these are weird times. We all get a little loopy, I guess…"

"No, no. Strange. Dr. Steven Strange." Tony said. "He wanted me alive. He made a bargain with half the universe to keep me alive." His eyes flitted back and forth. "Why didn't I think about that? Why did I just assume… I just thought he was being stupid, just got attached to me somehow…"

"You." Rocket raised an eyebrow. "Buddy, I've known you for a month and I can tell you, you're insufferable. And coming from me, that's saying something."

"Exactly." Tony lifted a finger. "It is saying something because Strange basically told me he wouldn't do the exact thing that he did do for the exact reasons I assumed he did, so that implies he did it for other reasons…" his voice trailed off.

"Point Break." He said, suddenly turning to Thor. "Anyone make a deal with Thanos for your life? Like say Thanos promised not to kill you if they gave him an Infinity Stone."

Thor blinked, pain briefly crossing his eyes. "Yes. Loki surrendered the Tesseract in exchange for my head." Thor suddenly seemed to realize something. "Oh, and the rest of me, of course, not just the head separate from the body."

"So you almost kill Thanos. That's gotta piss Thanos off." Tony said, standing up and moving toward Thor. "The moment of the snap, if Thanos' is thinking anything, even on a subconscious level, it's gotta be this guy right here, kill him and his stupid hammer right now, but the Gauntlet doesn't. Why?"

"Because Fate decrees it so."

"No." Tony held up a finger. "Because Loki decrees it so. In my case, because Strange decrees it so. Don't you see, we survived because Thanos promised on an Infinity Stone not to kill us. Literal Purple Pinky Promise."

Thor frowned. "I don't..."

"And that means…" Tony turned back to the forge, a new light in his eyes, "…Strange saved me for a reason."

"To kick Thanos' ass." Rocket grinned.

"Head." Thor corrected.

"You didn't meet this guy." Tony said. "Avenging wasn't his style. He was a guardian. If he saved me, he didn't save me to kill Thanos." Tony put his hands on the forge. "He saved me to save everyone."

* * *

 _So Tony gets on working an Asgardian Iron Man suit, one that can store the stones in the chest. Thor goes back to Earth to pick up Banner, but when he heads back, he picks up an unexpected tag-along-who manages to stay hidden for a while, but not forever._

* * *

Shuri tried to leap back into the rafters, but Stark was too quick. A pod thudded into her chest, reaching out long spider arms and trapping her arms against her sides. A sudden electric shock raced through her system and she fell to the ground with a little scream.

Stark was on top of her nearly immediately. "Enhanced reflexes my ass." He growled. "Cap could have dodged that on his worst day. You're nothing more than a teenager in a fancy suit, aren't you?"

Shuri struggled against her bonds. She knew they were too strong to break, but that wasn't the point. "Release me! I am the queen of Wakanda!"

"A bit out of your jurisdiction here, your highness, and didn't I tell you to stay home?" Stark stood, pointing a finger at her. "How the hell did you get in here?"

"Oooh." Thor looked suddenly very self-conscious, tapping his Stormbreaker. "…I thought the BiFrost seemed a little slow last time…"

"Are you serious right now?" Stark rounded on the Asgardian. "Really? She hitched a ride on your rainbow bridge because… what, your back was turned?"

Shuri could not resist a grin. "I may be a teenager in a fancy suit," she said, bringing all eyes back to her, "but I'm very sneaky when I need to be."

The whine of the suit's kinetic charger was reaching a high point—pulling energy from the binder device. Shuri closed her eyes and sent a mental command.

The binder burst outward in an explosion. Shuri leapt back and away from Stark's clumsy follow-up blast, and whipped around her sonic blasters just as three more spider-catchers were flying toward her.

One single blast sent all three dissolving into pieces. A second set Stark's new vibranium suit wavering, patches of armor dissolving away as the sonic waves battered it.

Shuri raised her hands, and the sonic gauntlets retracted. "You haven't compensated for the vibrational difference." She said. "That armor won't hold up to anyone who knows anything about Vibranium. None of the suits you've made with your stolen metal will."

"The metal was a present, actually." Stark said. But he was listening, not attacking, and Shuri took that as a good sign.

She raised her hands in a smug gesture. "If you're going to make anything remotely useful with that stuff, you're going to need someone who's actually handled it before. Maybe someone who…" she considered, gave a shrug, "…made suits of armor with it before?"

There was a silence. Stark and Rocket kept their guns trained on her. Thor stood easily apart, but his hammer was in his hand.

"You so much look out a window and I will bust your ass in detention." Stark said, and his guns retracted. "You help us with the weapons tech, then it's straight back home."

Shuri considered. "I don't seem to get a lot out of that deal."

"It's the only one you're getting." Stark said.

"It better not be." Shuri scoffed. "You need me, so make me a better offer."

"You're not going against Thanos or any other space baddie." Stark said. "Non-negotiable. Us using your weapons to kill Thanos is the closest you're getting to revenge for your brother."

Shuri blinked. "I don't want revenge."

"Say what?" Rocket lowered his weapon. "Look, kid, you can tell us, it's fine. We're all about revenge here. Everyone helping us is all about revenge. Your whole planet basically told us 'eff yeah, revenge!'"

"I don't want revenge." Shuri repeated. "One lives. One dies. That is all. My brother wanted revenge for my father. My mother wanted revenge for my brother. But neither led to anything. Revenge serves nothing. My brother lived a life of danger; if he had not died in the field he should have died on the throne. He took many of Thanos' people with him. It is a fair accounting. No vengeance is necessary."

Stark tilted his head. "So… what are you after?"

Shuri shrugged. "I want to help." She said. "I want to do as my brother did. I want to show the world what Wakanda has to offer."

There was a silence.

"Help us and I'll consider adding you to the Avenger's junior roster once this is over." Stark said.

"Full roster." Shuri tilted her head.

"Full roster, depending on my and Cap's say-so." Stark said. "Assuming we're both alive after this is over. And my say-so is going to depend a lot on how well you can follow orders, specifically, 'don't leave the lab.'"

Shuri snorted and crossed her arms. "If you think you can keep me here."

Stark stepped up closer to her. "Listen to me very carefully, catgirl." He said. His voice was low and dangerous. "The last kid your age we had in the Avengers disobeyed my orders, and ended up dying on a desolate graveyard of a planet lightyears away from anyone who ever knew or cared about him." His eyes bored into her. "Understand that I will go up against Thanos in a terrycloth suit of armor if I have to be sure that I won't be watching another sixteen-year-old kid crumble away in front of me."

Shuri had been told that her talent for snark was just a little bit too strong. That she wasn't good at reading the room and had a tendency to make witty comebacks at exactly the point the person wasn't in the mood to hear them. That, in fact, emotionally tense moments made this worse for her as her nervousness turned to her caustic wit as a defense mechanism.

She tilted her head. "You do realize he would have crumbled away wherever he'd been, right?"

#

"It's really kind of impressive." Thor said to her later. "I never thought I'd meet someone more intentionally abrasive than Stark."

"Society of assholes here." Rocket said. "Well, except for pirate-angel, of course, cause he's gotta be annoying like that."

* * *

 _And that's as much as I had. Long-term, the idea was-find Thanos, get the gems, snap everyone back to life. Basically what they try to do in the first fifteen minutes of Endgame. Vision was going to come back in the yellow glowy form he sometimes has in the comics. I had some thoughts of implying a Peter/Shiuri pairing at the end, but that was it. Probably why my interest died away, I didn't have a really solid idea of what I wanted for the ending._


End file.
